The Last Summer
by ellabella98
Summary: Cam, Jere, Conrad. Taylor, Anika, Belly. It's the last summer at the house. Deals with relationships, friendships and a lot of drama.
1. Prologue

**The Last Summer**

**Prologue**

It was the final time we'd have a summer at the beach house. I didn't know why, I didn't ask. All I knew was that when Jeremiah texted that Saturday afternoon, a week before my summer holidays, it was all I could do not to breakdown. All the text said was, 'Last summer at the house, you can come if you want.' But it wasn't what was written, yes I didn't understand why this was happening but it was the way he wrote it, Jere, my ex-best friend. I thought I'd lost him.

I lost touch with the fisher boys after the marriage scene on the beach two years ago. Jere and I couldn't get married we decided. We may have known each other since we were kids but there was too much left unsaid, that we'd hidden from each other. Conrad, well I don't know what happened to him. My mom and him spoke a few times, but she stopped mentioning his name when she saw how it affected me. Jere's name soon vanished from the house vocabulary too.

Steven had moved out a few months ago, him and his girlfriend of 2 years Lacie, yes, the Lacie from Cabo, were living in New York. I hadn't visited yet but I was planning to in the summer, the summer I had planned before that text. Now everything had changed. I was alone to make the decision about what to do. My mom wouldn't come. Susannah's death had left her empty, she'd clung to Con, Jere, Steven and I but as we all grew up she seemed to think we left her too. I didn't see much of her.

So as I battled with the idea of going down to Cousins once more I thought of all the memories, the smiles, the laughter, and I knew, as bad as things were now. I couldn't leave it all behind and one day, if I didn't go, I'd regret it.

Little did I know what would happen.

_Let me know what you think, if you want me to continue, who you would like in it, etc._


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Of course I couldn't resist the summer house and it was a week later Taylor, Anika and I were blasting down the road to Cousins. For my 17th Taylor and Anika had bought me a car, a navy blue convertible, so we were driving down, hood down, sun on our backs, laughing as we followed the familiar drive to the beach house.

Anika was coming down for the first two weeks, Taylor for the first month. I needed them to keep me strong on this trip. To make sure I didn't lose myself around the two boys that owned my heart. 'No Belly, they don't own your heart, not anymore.' I Thought to myself but I couldn't deny they'd always be a part of me whether I liked it or not.

After little time we'd arrived at the summer house. A sharp intake of breath crossed my lips and I wondered if I was going to be able to handle this, yes, I must. I would do it for Susannah and my mom. I also wondered how the boys would react to Taylor and Anika coming down. I knew neither of them had much time for Taylor but they could deal with her. Anika could be interesting, she had a calm personality and was an interesting character. I thought they may like her..

Whilst I had been pondering over this the boys had come out. They were standing by the open glass door waiting for me to make the move. Anika, being inquisitive as usual asked me, 'Iz, shall we go?' I watched Taylor frown for the billionth time at the name Iz but she didn't say anything, she knew I liked it. It seemed everyone was waiting for me to make the first move. Here goes nothing I thought to myself and opened the door to face the boys.

They were up by the doors and we were down by the car. To me it felt like a game of battleships, everyone plotting there next move till Taylor piped up, 'Oh come on Belly' and led us up the pathway to the house. When we reached the boys she sang out in a sing song voice 'Hiiii Jeremiah, Hiiii Conrad' but her greeting was lost as both of them past her walking toward me. Jere reached me first looking at me for permission before holding me in a massive bear hug. I felt the warmth in him carry through me and started to laugh wondering if maybe this could be okay after all. Conrad came next but stopped, just before me looking me up and down, a half smile spread across his lips as he pulled me into a more casual hug. Our eyes locked briefly but he looked away. I then made it my mission for the summer to make things okay with both of the boys.

While me and Conrad had been greeting each other, Jere had introduced himself to Anika. They were both smiling and I knew it had been the right decision to bring Anika down, she'd fit in perfectly. The same could not be said for Taylor. After the boys had ignored her presence she had marched our luggage into our room and started getting ready for a night out on the boardwalk. Typical Tay. As Anika and I were moving to head up the stairs too her, Conrad and Jere pulled Anika off to the side and whispered something to her. A knowing glint lit up all three of their eyes and a whoosh of jealousy ran through me. 'Why are they talking to her? They've known her all of five minutes, jeez!' A second later though they were surrounding me, Jere grabbed under my arms and Conrad grabbed my legs, Anika holding me up in the middle. I knew what was about to happen and started wriggling as much as I could until I knew I couldn't win. As we approached the pool I screamed before breathing in as they flung me into the water.

Splash! The water went everywhere and as I came up for breath I could see all of them in stitches.

'Not funny guys' I called out but then quickly had to move out the way as Jere's massive body came jumping in on me. There was an even bigger splash this time and the laughter between us was uncontrollable. It wasn't that it was that funny, it was just too good an opportunity to miss laughing together again. Conrad jumped in also leaving Anika on the side in the dry. I knew she wouldn't voluntarily jump in so I made it look like I was getting out to go back to the house before turning around suddenly and pushing her in. I jumped back into the pool and the four of us were happily swimming around, laughing, joking completely forgetting Taylor existed. It wasn't on purpose, it just didn't matter she wasn't there. That's when we saw smoke coming from the house.

_Okay guys let me know what you think, if I should continue or not. Please review:)_


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Conrad noticed it first, he'd always been able to notice things as soon as they happened but he only saw it a fraction of time before the rest of us. The smoke was curling through the air, something that looked completely unnatural to me. Smoke didn't belong at the summer house, smoke represented danger and there was never, ever danger at the summer house.

We started to run up to the house. When we arrived the sight was shocking. Taylor was sitting in the living room with the letters, my letters, in her hand. Yet some were lit on the floor, burning and twisting in the flames, becoming nothing but ash. I could see the writing warping on the paper in the flame. Conrad's perfect handwriting, the curling t's the dotted i's all vanishing in front on me.

There was nothing I could do, Conrad was the only other person to recognise what they were. No one else could possibly comprehend what was happening. I could see the confused looks on Jere's and Anika's faces as their eyes flashed between the flames and my eyes, but I couldn't offer them an explanation, all I could do was watch the letters burn till Conrad was next to me, he lifted my chin and stared into my eyes, firstly reassuring me everything would be okay but then subtly getting my permission for something. Something I'd promised myself wouldn't happen.

**Conrad's POV**

I arrived at the house first and immediately recognised them, of course I did. They may have been a year and a half but I knew every word, every thought and every feeling relating to those letters. My letters to belly.

I began writing to her after her and Jeremiah had cancelled the wedding. She'd ran back home then quickly went to Spain for junior year before I even got the chance to talk to her. I poured my heart to her through letters. I sent her 23 letters that year, explaining to her everything. Everything that I never could bring myself to do before. But I never received a reply. I was pretty certain she'd received them, though I could never be sure and now here was proof, and what's more, she'd kept them. By the looks of it every single one. I knew I owned a place in her heart, as much as she denied it and I was determined to fight for it and these letters, the ones she had kept, would fuel my determination. Except they were burning, before both our eyes. Diminishing, vanishing, crumbling. All Taylor's fault. Taylor had to leave. She had no place here, but I thought to myself, why? What motive did she have for doing this? Before coming to a response to these questions I walked over to Belly, lifted her chin and stared into her eyes, her beautiful grey-blue eyes, wanting permission to do what I'd longed to do for two years, kiss her.

**Belly's POV**

I knew what Conrad was asking yet I knew here wasn't right. Nothing was right here at all.

With Conrad by my side I turned to Taylor. My so called best friend to demand an explanation but before doing so Conrad turned to Jere and Anika and asked them if we could have a bit of privacy. They both looked confused but willingly accepted, turning to walk back outside to the pool. Now alone with her he turned back to Taylor, anger ruling his eyes.  
'What the hell do you think you're doing?' he demanded, shaking with rage.  
'Conrad, stop.' I said to him, this is between me and Taylor and I need to handle it my way.  
Looking at her I cried, 'But explain yourself Tay, why would you do this?'  
'No belly, why would you do this?' She responded, 'I found these at the bottom of your luggage whilst looking for your blue dress which by the way you forgot to pack!'  
'Forget the dress Taylor, I don't care how you found my letters but why on earth would you think you had the right to read them and then burn them?!' I screamed at her.  
'Belly you need to get over him, I was doing you a favour, he's not worth any of this shit, he's treated you terribly yet you keep coming back for more and more. You're desperate and you need to move on, let it go Belly and stop being pathetic!'  
That was my breaking point. I pulled my arm back and slapped her as hard as I could across her cheek, trying to make her experience as much pain as she was putting me through. 'Get out!' I shouted toward her, not daring to look into her eyes. 'I want you gone in the next 30 minutes.'  
She didn't bother to respond and as she walked upstairs I crumpled to the floor crying my eyes out. Conrad swept up the ash of the letters from the fire which had now burned out before pulling me too my feet and wrapping me into a hug.

We stood there for a while not even acknowledging Taylor as she stalked out the house, luggage in hand, leaving the summer house for good. Only then did we realise the problem we had. Taylor hadn't brought her car here as her and Anika had travelled with me and I'd said I'd drive them both back when they were going to leave but we hadn't anticipated that Taylor was going to leave on the day of arrival and I was definitely not willing to drive her the four hours back home. Of course we had Conrad's car but he also was definitely not going to be offering her any favours soon which left Jeremiah.

I felt terrible to ask but what other choice did we have so Conrad went to call Jere and Anika inside leaving Taylor confused by the car. She wasn't going to be left waiting around though so stomped up to the house. Conrad looked like he was about to say something but I looked at him to prevent him, letting her sit round the table with us. We told Jere and Anika that Taylor was leaving and could Jere possibly drive Taylor back as we weren't willing to but he refused saying it was Cray's first summer party and he'd already promised Anika he was going to show her around and introduce her to people. I stored how close Anika and Jeremiah had become in a matter of hours at the back of my mind ready to analyse later but first exclaimed about what we were going to do.

Taylor had sat through all this not saying a word just staring at me but I refused to meet her eyes. I couldn't bear to look at her. The last train had gone already and a taxi would cost too much so I grudgingly told her she could stay tonight but was expected to leave on the first train tomorrow morning. Upon hearing this Taylor did what Taylor did best and stormed upstairs without uttering a word.

Now with that cleared up and knowing Jere and Anika were going to Clay's already, Conrad and I decided to go as well to kick the summer off on a good note. I told them all 'I'll be down in an hour and we can go' Before leading Anika upstairs so we could get ready.

_Tell me what you think/any suggestions x_


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

In the next hour Anika and I had showers, got dressed and I explained to her what Taylor had done. 'That freaking scumbag' Anika had commented making me feel better before asking, 'Iz, what's going on with you and Conrad?'  
'I don't know.' I told her, 'we had a moment but I never know what to think with Conrad, he's always been a mystery, I guess that's why I like him.'  
'So you do like him?' She replied.  
I sighed and responded, 'I think I always will An, it's Conrad after all.'  
Anika didn't reply to that, just left me to think. That was one of the best things about Anika, she knew when to stop asking questions. When we were ready we shouted we were leaving to Taylor but didn't go check on her as none of us particularly wanted to face her before walking along the beach to Clays. It was only the first day and already so much drama had happened it felt nice to be able to relax and be by the sea. We walked along as a four, laughing, soaking up the sun, completely erasing the last few hours from our minds, as if the day had gone from arrival to the pool to now. Bliss.

When we got to Clays around 8:30 the party was in full swing, people were dancing and singing karaoke while we started to introduce Anika to everyone. She seemed to be enjoying herself talking to the guy who runs the convenience store so I left her too it. She was brilliant at meeting new people. I'd lost Conrad since we'd arrived so went off looking for him, things actually seemed to be going well with him, we were getting along for once!

As I was searching for him through the house I spotted Jere talking to some guy who had his back to me. I went over to him to chat but realised too late the guy he was chatting to was Cam Cameron. From years ago. Shit.

It had ended weirdly with Cam. He'd asked if I wanted to still talk after summer was over at the point I realised I still liked Conrad, and that was it, the end of our summer romance. We hadn't spoken since.

I tried to turn around, hope they hadn't noticed me but too late, 'Bells!' Jere called, 'Come here, look who's here!'  
'Hey Jere, hey Cam' I said to them, 'Been a while' Iadded to Cam, he just looked at me shocked, raising his eyebrows before finally responding, 'Belly' and walking away.

'Wow' Jere said, 'he seems happy to see you!'  
'Shut it Jere, have you seen Conrad?' I queried  
Jere started to shuffle on his feet looking down as he said, 'Yeah, he's over there Belly'  
I turned to look at where he was indicating to see Conrad leading a girl out of the patio doors towards the beach. My heart dropped and I realised I had done what I knew would happen, but had tried, unsuccessfully to stop, once again. Me falling for Conrad. 'Oh well' I said to Jere, 'who is she?'  
'Her name's Brittney, she's 21 and works at the bar down the road.'  
'Sounds cool, see you later Jere' I said trying my hardest not too cry. This was the sort of time when I needed my girls but me and Taylor obviously weren't speaking so I needed Anika.

Where was she? I'd spent the last 20 minutes trying to find Anika with no luck. 'Eurgh' I thought to myself, 'where could she be?' I went out to the beach to see if I could spot her but no luck, I tried the kitchen, patio and lounge before seeing if she was upstairs. As I walked up the stairs it sounded like I could hear her voice. I checked the first bedroom and second but no luck. Finally the only room left was the upstairs bathroom, I hesitated outside before bounding in and seeing Anika and Jeremiah kissing furiously, looking very intense.  
'Belly!' They cried in unison  
'Oh shit guys I'm so sorry, Anika I need to talk to you really quickly please.'  
'Sure thing Iz' she responded.  
At this point Jere said, 'I'll leave you too it, be back in 10 kay?' Anika just gave him a half smile and nod before turning to me, 'What's up Iz?'  
'I still like Conrad but he's now with another girl and I don't know what to do' I blurted out.  
'Listen Iz, you've spent two years away from him yet still like the guy, you have to go for it. I've seen the way he looks at you girl and there are feelings there I'm sure of it, just take the chance, you'll regret it otherwise. And you know what? If it ends up well the 4 of us can double date!'  
At this I gave her a massive hug, 'Thanks An, you're the best!' I said before turning around and leaving. 'She's all yours' I said to Jeremiah who was stood outside the door eagerly.  
'Wait, Belly' He responded  
'Yeah Jere?'  
'Two things, firstly you're okay with me and Anika right?'  
'It'll take a little getting used to,' I replied honestly, 'but I want you both to be happy so yes.'  
'Phew' He breathed, 'and secondly, tell Conrad something from me?'  
'Um yeah?' I said puzzled  
'Tell him: penser à l'infini'  
'What does that mean?' I asked  
'Don't worry, he'll know'  
'Have a good night Jere' I said before turning and heading down the stairs to the boy I loved completely.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

I walked down the stairs thinking in my head about what I was going to say and do, 'Stay natural belly, don't worry, it's Conrad' I comforted myself. This was Conrad after all. I'd known him since I was born. All I had to do was talk to him, tell him how I felt. How difficult was that anyway?

I looked around the house but couldn't see him anywhere. The place was packed with people dancing and some people stopped to chat, I asked each person if they'd seen Conrad but they said no unfortunately. Had he left? No he wouldn't without telling either me or Jeremiah. I was on my third lap of the house when someone touched my arm. I span round hoping it was Conrad but saw it was Cam. Oh god.

'Hey Cam' I said brightly, 'um, how are you doing?'  
'Yeah good belly, look can we talk?'  
'Um what about Cam see I'm kind of in the middle of something..'  
'Oh' His face fell, 'Don't worry then'  
A wave of quilt went through me, 'No don't worry, what's up?' I asked  
'I'm just going to say this okay?'  
At my silence he just continued, 'I want to be back together.'  
Shit. 'Um Cam I'm really sorry but I have feelings for someone else, it has been ages as well, we could be totally different now, I hope I am..'  
'You're not Belly, just much more beautiful, not that you weren't before!' he added hastily.  
I forced a laugh out, 'Well Cam we can catch up at some point but I do have to go right now' I said.  
'Sure Belly, see you soon'  
'Um yeah, oh, by the way, do you know where Conrad is?' I asked  
A frown crossed his face, 'He's on the beach Belly, I don't know if you want to go down there though..'  
I'd already left though, as soon as he'd said beach. Finally ready to face Conrad.

I walked down to the beach in the darkness. It was getting later and the last light was just fading away. It was still light enough to see though, just about and as I reached the beginning of the beach I couldn't believe what I saw. Taylor and Conrad were talking. Taylor? Why was she here? Why was she talking to her? Why was Conrad talking to her? This was all wrong. I wanted to shout and storm over but I had a feeling in me that I need to wait. So that's what I did. I stood behind a tree and stared at them both. I was trying to read their faces and body language and it seemed that they were arguing or something but then Taylor shot a look in my direction. I had to hide quickly so she wouldn't see me and when I turned back they were kissing. It had happened so quickly I hadn't registered it happening till it did. It was like slow motion now though playing before my eyes. Taylor I bet had moved in and sprung on him and I kept thinking 'Conrad, break it off!' But he was kissing her back. I sank down into a ball and started sobbing. After what felt like ages I lifted my head up. It had only been ten seconds I realised but I was furious, and filled with rage. As I stood I was ready to shout and yell at her for betraying me again and him for kissing her back but then, just as I opened my mouth to scream I watched him push her away. he looked mad, I could tell from the way he was standing and he was shouting at her. The words filled my ears.  
'What do you think you're doing Taylor, get out of here. If Belly see's you or ever knows what you just did she'd hate you, you'd never be friends again so leave, or I'll tell her!' The passion in his voice was overwhelming, he sounded terrifying. But she just replied,  
'Look Conrad, Belly doesn't want you anymore, she's moved on and you need too as well, and as for our friendship, Belly needs to grow up, it's you I want now.'  
'Taylor I don't care how Belly feels, get out of here now.'  
'No.' She replied defiantly, 'If you want to tell Belly go ahead but I'll tell her how you kissed me back and then that's it for you as well.'  
'You're a bitch, I didn't cause this.'  
'But Conrad you didn't stop it either. A part of you wants me.'  
'No Taylor, and you know what, I pulled away. I don't want or like you at all okay? Get that into your tiny brain and leave, now.'  
'No. I'll see you later' she said and walked off up the beach. Towards where I was standing. I didn't know if she'd seen me or not but I didn't want her too now. So I ran, back to the house, I'd had three ciders already but I needed more, to drown this pain. I picked up a bottle of tequila and went to join the dance floor.

I was lost in the mob and tequila was my killer. I drank and drank and drank. When people started to play beer pong, I joined teams with a girl I barely knew, we won our first game but lost the next five. It was okay though, I just drank harder as we lost, starting to favour loosing over winning. it got to the point where everything was going blurry. I couldn't remember my own name but I was on such a high it didn't matter. Me and this girl were partners for a long time, for beer pong, then darts, we lost again and then we finally volunteered to be shot glasses for the boys we were hanging with. These were my new friends. The girl was called Ellie, her brother Hudson, there were a pair of twin boys James and Flynn, and one other girl called Kimberley. Anyway. At the time me Ellie and Kim were lying across the kitchen table with vodka in our belly buttons. Ha! My old nickname would finally not be so patronising! Hudson was preparing to take a shot from me, Flynn and James from the other two. I couldn't tell them apart. All I knew now was Hudson was hot. Very hot. He had a perfectly chiselled jaw line, big blue eyes that stared into you and a short blonde hair style that only looked good on some guys. Model guys. They took the shot and the feeling was insane. We carried on partying and for the first time in my life I was in Cousins and not obsessing over Conrad. Not even thinking about Conrad. I didn't know what time it was anymore but when Hudson suggested we go for a walk, it was pitch black, I agreed and we walked out to the back doors holding hands and laughing. I knew Kimberley had disappeared with James and Ellie with Dean. Knowing practically everyone was paired up made me more excited to be with Hudson. I glanced at the time as I walked out, 3:42 am, but that didn't register with me anymore. I'd lost any sense of responsibility, all I wanted was fun! And tonight I was going to make sure I didn't miss out.

**Conrad's POV**

I walked into the house ages after shouting at Taylor. I couldn't believe how she'd acted. She was a complete bitch. After I'd shouted at her I walked along the beach in a cloud of doubt. Had Belly moved on? I hadn't thought so but I didn't know for certain. I sat on the beach and thought about Belly. How I felt about her and decided to go and talk to her. To see where we stood. I walked back toward the house and checked my watch, one and a half hours had passed since Taylor and I had spoken, wow, time had slipped away and in that time it seemed the party had gotten very wild very quickly. As I approached the house I saw couples scattered all over the beach and sitting there kissing was Jere and Anika! I didn't want to break them apart but I needed some idea of where Belly was. Speaking of which, if she wasn't with these two who was she with? It better not be Cam.

'Hey guys' I said looking at Jere. They broke apart.  
'Con, what's up man?' Jere asked, looking extremely happy.  
'Do you know where Belly is? I need to talk to her'  
'Haven't you seen her yet?' they asked puzzled  
'Um, no?'  
'She was looking for you Conrad, she's probably inside. Do you want me to help you look?' Anika asked. Jere shot a look at me. The look said 'she's probably inside, don't take Anika away from me, after all you got Belly.' So some grudges never left then.  
'Nah it's okay An, I'll find her' I said half smiling as I started to walk again.  
'Good luck man' I heard Jere call but as I turned back to acknowledge him they were kissing again. I sighed. At least he was happy right.

I stepped into the house and looked round for a sign of her. I saw her almost immediately. Lying on a table, looking smashed out of her mind with some blonde guy leaning over her. Taking a shot. From. Her. Bellybutton. No. Just. No. That bellybutton was the nickname of her childhood and he'd just ruined that. I was about to go over and give him a piece of my mind when she sat up and whispered in the guys ear before leaning in to kiss him. His eyes lit up and I had to get out of there. I hated people seeing me cry.

**Belly's POV **

Hudson and I ended up on the beach, making out. It was intense but there was no sparks. There was a rush though which is what I acted on. We ended up kissing for about two hours then watching the sunrise at around 6 just talking and getting to know each other. My head wasn't so crazy now but it felt awful. Not rushing anymore but twisting, pulsing and spinning with every moment. I battled forward though talking to Hudson more and more. He was 24, the same age as Conrad, and had just finished training to become a lawyer at Harvard, as I learned more and more about him I realised how genuine he was. Wow. Him and Ellie knew Flynn and Dean from previous years of summers they'd spent together in California but they'd decided Cousins was where they wanted to be this year. Ellie was my age and Flynn and Dean Jere's age. he informed me that Ellie and Dean had a friends with benefits deal going on. They hooked up at every party but were just close mates. I wondered if I could do this. it sounded fun! But who with? I placed the question at the back of my mind to think about later. Right now all I wanted was sleep and with that we drifted off. Just as the sun rose above us. Hudson and I curled in ball together and fell asleep on the warming sand.

I woke up with a start to find the sea lapping around mine and Hudson's ankles. Shit my head hurt. I tried to remember what happened last night but it was mostly blank bar a few scenes here and there. I woke Hudson up.  
'Morning Iz' he said, I wondered why he was calling me Iz instead of Belly. I'd probably asked him too so he didn't remind me of Conrad or Jere. Shit. Where were they? Were they worried? I checked the time on Hudson's watch- 11:11 am. I hadn't spoken to either of them in over 12 hours, or Anika at that. Then it hit me, Anika and Jere in the bathroom, Taylor and Conrad on the beach, bellybutton shots, the lot.  
'Make a wish' Hudson said, breaking my train of thought.  
I turned back to him with my eyes shut, wishing for it all to be okay. 'What did you wish for?' I asked, opening my eyes.  
'You' he replied simply.  
At the look on my face he backtracked.  
'As a friend Iz' he added, 'you told me all about this Conrad guy last night, not that I remember that much if I'm honest'  
I hugged him hard. 'Thanks you Hudson, so much, last night, was good for me.'  
I stood up, getting ready to leave.  
'Want me to walk you back to yours?' he asked  
'Yeah, in a minute, let's go find Ellie and the others'  
We walked inside with his arm around me I looked around at the mass destruction. Clay was going to have a heck of a cleaning job. Ellie, Dean and Flynn were sitting in the kitchen eating nutella on toast.  
'Hey bro, hey Belly' she said bounding up to us. 'Ouch' she added after, 'head hurts a lot, anyway, how was your night guys?' she asked winking at us.  
'Good' we replied in unison smiling. She just grinned at us and led us back to the table.  
'Where's Kim?' Hudson asked  
'Left about an hour ago' Flynn replied, 'I've been stuck with these two for the past hour' he added rolling his eyes.  
'Come one bro, you love us really' Dean laughed at him  
'Sure bro, spending an hour with a pair of lovebirds, what's not to love?' Flynn snapped back grinning.  
'Ehem, we are not love birds' Ellie retorted.  
'Sex buddies then' Hudson piped up. Ellie and Dean just blushed behind there toast.  
'Anyway, I'm going to walk Iz back, catch up with you lot later okay?' Hudson continued.  
'Sure man' Dean directed at Hudson  
'Oh and Belly, you're welcome to come chill anytime as well' Flynn added  
At these words Ellie stood up, came over to me, gave me a hug and told me, 'you have to come hang with us all yeah?'  
'I'd love too, I'll see you all soon' I said hugging Ellie back, waving at the twins before walking away with Hudson's arm still around me. When we got outside we walked along the beach together and I checked my phone. I had three texts. Two from An, one from Jere.

From Anika at 8:02 am: Iz, you okay girl? We looked all over for you but have no idea where you are. We're heading back to the house. No sign of Conrad either so are you with him? Call me later x

From Jere at 9:34 am: Anika, Conrad and I are at the beach house, where the hell are you? Conrad won't talk to us properly, just looks terrible. Ring me if you need anything x

From Anika at 11:59 am: Iz, hey. All Con's said is you were with some blonde guy? Don't worry about Jere he's getting worried just maybe reply so we know you're okay. I'm trying to reassure them but you know them better than anyone. It's not working, see you later x

It was 12:07 now.  
I texted An back: I'm fine, back within the hour, love you both a lot, we'll chat soon x  
There that took care of the home situation. Hudson and I continued to walk along talking. It was weird having a friendship so close with a guy who was strictly a friend. A nice weird. He was still really hot though.

When we arrived Hudson offered to walk me back up to the house. I told him no, and I'd call him later so we could hang out. I meant it, he made me relax and I loved the others already. He gave me a hug then left, I watched him walk down the beach before turning to face the house I loved more than my own. It was only the second day here and already so much had happened. I realised this was going to be a summer not like any other. I also realised my plans for all hanging out together last night had been ruined, thanks Taylor and Conrad and Jere and Anika if I'm honest.

I was happy for Jere and Anika, honestly. I just wouldn't be able to stand being in the middle of them if anything bad happened. As soon as I thought that though I realised nothing bad could happen, they were both level-headed cool people, and I could see them together. It was better than Jeremiah with some random girl anyway. As for Conrad, I didn't know where we stood, he did kiss Taylor, but then pushed her away, and then defended me. But he kissed her back. Now she had taken that from both the brothers. That cow. I wanted her to have gone already but I also didn't. I wanted the opportunity to yell, scream rage and slap her. We'd just have to see what happened.

I walked inside and put my cell on the table calling everyone,  
'I'm back.' Within 30 seconds Jere and Anika were next to me,  
'Hey Bells' Jere said first, 'I was getting worried' he added, surrounding me in a massive bear hug.  
'I'm fine Jere, just a pounding hangover, that's all' I responded  
'You don't look your best Iz that's for sure' Anika smiled at me before hugging me also.  
'Alright, alright' I replied, 'Where's Taylor and Conrad?' my voice sounded icy as I asked my question.  
'Con's locked up in his room' Anika replied  
'and Taylor is no-where to be seen, luggage all gone, like she was never here' Jere added.  
'Back to normal then' I commented, they both just gave me an uneasy smile.  
'What?' I questioned  
'Are you okay Bells?'  
'I will be, I just need rest. You two mind if I go lie down?'  
'Nah we're cool' they said smiling at each other. At least something was going right.

I trudged upstairs, went into my bathroom and showered for ages. The hot water soothed my head and back which apparently had a fresh bruise on it. How that happened I had no idea. Once I was finished I changed into my old fuzzy Cousins top and cotton shorts and laid down. I considered going into Conrad's room but decided against it. He needed to be the one to fix things. As I lay down I started listening to my summer playlist which was dated with all Susannah and my mom's favourite songs as well as some of Steven's, Conrad's, Jere's and even my old ABBA tracks. We'd made it the summer I was 10 and we'd play it all summer, there were something like 62 songs so as soon as we finished we'd start again. This house was full of music. The memories made my eyes well up and I soon fell asleep.

I woke up around 5 pm still feeling hung-over but a bit better; now more restless. I got out of bed before realising. My door was ajar, when I fell asleep it had been closed. Someone had been in my room. I changed into my swimming costume and went out to the pool where I saw An and Jere splashing around. We greeted each other and I turned to them.  
'So what happened last night then?'  
'What do you mean?' They asked  
'Are you two serious now or what?'  
'We're not serious' Anika replied, 'I'm only here for two weeks and it's only been like 24 hours but yeah, we're having fun, that sound about right Jere?'  
'Yeah pretty much' he said but I knew he was lying, two weeks wasn't going to be long enough for Jere if only An could stay but she was flying out to New York for the rest of the summer with her parents.  
'Cool, oh and while I was sleeping did either of you come into my room?'  
'No why?' They both shook their heads.  
'Just wondering' we all knew what I was thinking- Conrad. We splashed around for a while and it was refreshing to just laugh and enjoy myself with the them, it had been so long since Jere and I had been anywhere near each other and I'd missed him. They were a part of my life. I could never lose that. After a while they turned to me,  
'What happened with Conrad?'  
I explained to them the whole Taylor situation, that I didn't know where we stood then not seeing for the rest of the night, I also didn't know how he knew of Hudson but what he could of seen was bad. I realised he must think me and Hudson were a thing now. Crap. I'm an idiot.

I ran up to his room and knocked on the door, 'Conrad?' I said, 'are you in there?'  
'Yeah Belly I'm here' He replied wearily  
'Can I come in?' I asked  
He hesitated before saying, 'Sure Belly, I think we need to talk.'  
I opened the door.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

As I opened the door I just stood for a moment, looking at the room he lived in. It had been years since I'd entered this room but it was still as neat as ever, tidy, precise, that was how Conrad lived. I remembered the summer when I was 11, he'd come down to the games room one day which was like a bombsite, Jeremiah and I had been chucking popcorn and having a pillow fight, one of which had burst leaving feathers everywhere. He shouted at us to clean up and when we said we'd do it after a swim in the pool he'd gone upstairs. We came back to the house an hour later and he was just finishing dusting all the sofas. It had bothered him so much he just had to have things tidy. He was still the same, that reassured me.

'Hi' I began  
'Belly' he sighed, 'how are you feeling?'  
'Pounding headache but other than that I'm alright, you?' I asked, sitting down on the corner of his bed.  
'I'm fine Belly.' His voice sounded final and we were silent for a few minutes, I was about to break the silence when he suddenly asked,  
'Who's Blondie ?'  
'The singer?' I replied, 'she's pretty good, my mom likes.. oh' I realised, 'you mean Hudson.'  
'Hudson's his name?' Conrad let out laugh  
'Yeah, he's a friend. Why?' With that Conrad moved towards me and kissed me, instantly, intensely, but within five seconds broke away.  
'What was that?!' I spluttered  
'We're just friends right?' He asked. It was then I knew he'd seen Hudson and I.  
'When did you see us?' I asked defiantly  
'After the shots Bellybutton' he said, 'after the shots.'  
'Look Conrad, not that it's any of your business but nothing, I mean nothing is going on with Hudson, yes we kissed last night but we mostly just spoke for hours and you know what? If I hadn't seen you on the beach with Taylor as I was coming to find you then none of this would of happened so don't blame me!' I yelled at him. His eyes dropped as I mentioned Taylor and he just sat there till eventually I stood up and headed for the door.  
'What did you see on the beach Belly?'  
'You kiss her back.' I retorted before storming out of his room, I slammed the door shut and walked down to my car, I was just starting the engine when Anika ran towards me,  
'Where you going Iz?' She asked  
'Out'  
'I'm coming' She didn't ask, she just got in the car. I was grateful for that, I needed someone to talk to. We drove in silence at first, she didn't say anything just let me think. Anika actually had a process, let them cool off, let them think about it, talk to them. Currently I was cooling off. Well trying too. But I was really angry, Conrad had had a go at me for kissing a guy once when I'd only done it because I'd seen him kiss Taylor, my ex-best friend. Thinking this through, how in the end he pushed her away, stood up for me and then came to find me swam across my head- this was the thinking stage. Anika could tell someone was at this point because they would usually adopt a confused expression. I guess that was where I was at but she waited. It was only once we were at the boardwalk she turned to me, 'What happened?'  
'He kissed Taylor last night.' I replied bluntly.  
'He did what?!' She exclaimed  
'Well Taylor kissed him, he just didn't push her away for around 10 seconds.' I explained  
'Oh Iz, what did he do then?'  
I quickly explained to her how Conrad had fought with her, them involving my feelings etc.  
'And what exactly are your feelings Iz?' Anika asked me  
'I like him a lot, I never stopped but he's so..' I was lost for words, because the thing was, he was so, Conrad. That was the only word for it, dark, moody, mysterious yet sweet, sensitive and so so interesting.  
'Iz, no-one's ever compared to him right?'  
'Never.' I responded.  
'Then what are we doing here?' She questioned, 'You can't just run off whenever' she paused, 'You can do this Iz, go back and talk to him.'

We were back at the house within 15 minutes but I wasn't ready yet, I needed a swim. It was dark though, around midnight I'd guess. I told Anika I was going to talk to Conrad tomorrow, said goodnight to her before entering my room. I got changed into my swimsuit and walked down to the pool and started to lap. Dawn was breaking when I finally stopped, I must of been swimming for hours on end but it felt like minutes. I got out the pool and my skin was white and wrinkled, my fingers and toes looking old and pruned. I checked my phone - 4am, was there point in going to sleep? I decided yes. I didn't want to be grouchy tomorrow and I wanted to be able to talk to Con properly so I went back upstairs. I changed before wrapping myself in duvet and drifting away.

When I woke it was midday, I was surprised no-one had woken me yet with music or something like that. But no. I showered and put on my sweats, today was going to be a home day. I walked downstairs but still no sign of anyone. Pouring myself some cereal I heard a car though, someone was pulling into the drive. I walked outside, bowl of cereal in hand to go and see the visitor but it was only Anika and Jere returning, weirdly enough Conrad's car wasn't too be seen. Where was he? Before having to talk to Anika and Jere I went upstairs and knocked on his door- no reply. I looked inside, his room was completely empty. Great, he was out. I sighed whilst walking back down the stairs to Anika and Jere. Upon seeing me they said,  
'Morning Belly'  
'Hey guys, where you been?'  
'Food shopping' Jere answered me  
'By that do you mean actual food, junk food or alcohol?' I asked grinning at them  
'Mainly junk food and alcohol' they admitted, I started laughing. We all went to sit down on the sofa and I asked,  
'Shall we all have a house day today?'  
'Yeah, sounds good' Jere replied  
Anika nodded as well before saying, 'Do you want to invite Hudson over as well?'  
'Good idea' I told her nodding before picking up my phone. I rang Hudson and asked him if him, Ellie and the others would like to come over for a movie, popcorn and shot day. He said Ellie and Dean were out in the nearest city shopping and Flynn was at work but he could come over in 20 minutes. I turned back to An and Jere to tell them but couldn't see them. I quickly told Hudson that 20 minutes was great and I'd see him then before hanging up the phone and searching for the missing duo.

I found them on the porch arguing lightly over whether we should have a barbeque tonight. Jere was in favour. Anika was against. As I walked up to them they told me I was going to make the final call. I knew how much Hudson liked barbeques from the night before so I agreed with Jere. That made him smile. We teased Anika saying new-comers had no say anyway over the house and she just laughed back at us, taunting Jere, winking at me.

Back inside we just spoke for a while till Hudson arrived before picking which movie to watch. I was never a fussy movie watcher so as they decided I grabbed duvets, popcorn, chocolate and shot glasses so we could chill in style. By the time I'd set up they still hadn't agreed though. Hudson and Anika wanted to watch Slum dog Millionaire whereas Jere wanted Pulp Fiction. Once again they turned to me to make a decision. If I was honest I'd of rather watched a Harry Potter or Twilight so we could chat over the top but eventually I agreed with Hudson and Anika, I couldn't watch Pulp Fiction for the 60th time with Jere. He loved it way too much.

While the movie was on Jere and Anika had one sofa, cuddling together, whereas me ad Hudson had the other. I was lounging on him and An kept shooting me smirks but we were mostly messing around. About an hour through the film Jere stood up and asked Hudson if he'd help him with something which made them both leave.

Once they'd left Anika bounded over to me tucking herself into my duvet so we could chat. She turned to me, ignoring the movie, and said,  
'Iz, he is so scrummy!'  
'He is very hot I agree An' I replied. That's all I gave her though. Nothing was going to happen with Hudson, him and I both knew that. She fell silent at this and turned to watch the movie. We sat comfortably together half watching the movie half thinking till the boys came back an hour later, arms full of booze.

I raised my eyes at the pair of them. Hudson just shrugged while grinning at me. Jere on the other hand explained,  
'We've decided we're having a party.'  
'How big?' was my first question.  
'Oh just us plus Ellie, Dean and Flynn' Hudson responded.  
'Pathetic guys, you call that a party?!' Anika piped in, 'Get real.' She was joking though, just messing with the pair of them. Jere pretended to be wounded,  
'Ouch that hurt!' he cried sarcastically but then added, 'no I want to meet Belly's awesome friends!' Sounded like him and Hudson had got on okay, good, I smiled.  
'Sounds like a plan' I said. 'When are they coming?'  
'Now' Jere grinned. 'The night's just starting.'


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

We were in a circle playing truth or dare with vodka shots in front of us. The 7 of us had been partying for the past 4 hours, still no sign of Conrad. I wanted him to come back so we could talk, or even if we didn't talk so he could interact and have some fun. I wanted to see him this summer, not have him spend all his time in his room like some summers previously. Anyway, it was Hudson's turn,  
'Okay, Anika, truth or dare?' He asked  
'Truth' she responded, staring at him.  
'Have you and Jere had sex?' Hudson asked, a faint smile playing at his lips  
'No we have not' Anika responded, winking at me, Jere just laughed quietly before saying,  
'Okay my turn'. We all looked at him expectantly as he turned to Flynn. Jere and Flynn had been getting on particularly well these past few hours, they were the same age and had a lot in common, he'd already told me he approved of them all. Not that I needed his approval of course, but it was nice anyway.  
'Flynn, dare or dare?'  
'I guess I'll have to pick dare' Flynn grinned, 'What do I have to do now?' We'd already made Flynn strip and run round the house, belly flop into the pool, chuck down 5 shots of vodka and sit for 10 minutes with his legs round his head. That was the funniest one, every time he tried to move he'd just roll over again and it would take him ages to get back up. He was the victim of all our dares, he didn't mind though- just took it in his stride.  
'What you have to do' Jere started saying, looking evil, 'Is eat 3 bites of a sandwich that Belly and I make.'  
'Oh shit' Flynn cussed, 'I'm going to die!' Turning to Dean he added, 'Tell mum and Dad I love them, and tell everyone at college I died from a shark or something cooler than sandwich poisoning please mate?'  
'Sure thing bro, I feel for ya' Dean commented  
'Hey! My cooking's not that bad' I exclaimed  
'Yeah sure it is Belly' Ellie added, 'Jere's told us all about the barbeque incident' she continued giggling.  
'What barbeque story?' Hudson asked  
'Oh yeah they told it whilst you and Belly were outside talking' Ellie replied, 'Jere tell him?' she asked  
'Anika can you do the honours?' Jere turned to her  
'Sure' She replied, big grin on her face, 'so basically, one summer..'  
I interrupted her, 'I'm going to make this sandwich while you tell the story, I don't need reminding, Jere, you coming?'  
He hopped up and joined me, 'Sure Bells'. We went through to the kitchen.

Once inside the kitchen I asked him, 'Honestly, how are things with Anika?'  
'Really good Bells, It doesn't feel like 2 days honestly, I do like her and actually there was something I wanted to talk to you about..' He rushed  
'Slow down Jere' I said, 'I can see you like her, does she know that? What do you want to ask?' I said slowly  
'Yeah she knows' he smiled, 'oh and she said if I want to I can go and spend a week with her in New York when she flies there, what do you think?' he asked apprehensively as if not knowing what to expect in response.  
'Wow!' I replied in shock, 'that's amazing of course I don't mind!' I said honestly, 'as long as you come back so we can spend some time together'  
'Of course Bells, thanks oh and I'll ask Con too to make sure it's okay'  
It hit me, Conrad and I alone in the house, in two weeks for a week, hopefully everything would be good then and we could have a really good time. The thought made my knees shake and butterflies stir.

10 minutes later, Jere and I emerged from the kitchen with a huge sandwich on a plate. It had taken 14 ingredients and a lot of mess but I finally had made a sandwich worthy of Jere's dare. There was ham, mustard, pickle, sweet corn, jelly, sunflower seeds, banana, ladies fingers, chilli powder, chocolate cream, lime, cheese, avocado and finally bread of course all adding up to make a monster looking meal. We presented it too Flynn who looked half scared, half excited.  
'I'm not sure about this' Flynn protested  
'Eat it, Eat it, Eat it' the rest of us chanted  
Flynn spluttered, 'But it's so..' before looking at me and Jere and taking one, then two and finally a third bite. As soon as he swallowed the third bite he rushed to the kitchen and all we could hear was gargling and retching. Yum.  
'Once again Belly's cooking causes others physical pain' A voice said from behind us, the voice sounded as though the face was smirking, but it was gentle also, warm and humorous.  
'Con mate, come join the party' Jere said eagerly, looking at me. Con walked into the living room , looking at Jere, then Hudson and finally his eyes settling on me.  
'Hey everyone' he said, nodding at each person in turn, 'actually I think I'll go to bed, I'm really tired' he began to climb the stairs.  
'Don't go Con' I called to him  
'Yeah, we're playing truth or dare' Hudson added, 'It'd be nice to meet you man, I'm Hudson by the way'  
I watched Conrad tense before he replied, 'Okay then' and came back and joined us.  
As he sat Ellie piped up, 'I'm Ellie, Hudson's sister' and Dean said, 'yeah man I'm Dean, my twin Flynn is in the kitchen as you saw'  
'Nice too meet you both' Conrad replied politely. 'So who's turn is it?'  
'Flynn's, but as he's out of action I'll take his go' Dean said, winking at me. I let it slide. I didn't need them all ganging up on me again. Looking around the room at us he started, 'Conrad, truth or dare?'  
'Dare' Conrad said confidently.  
'Kiss Belly' Dave said smugly. My heart skipped a beat and time seemed to stop.

I looked at Conrad, who was staring at me, searching for approval, I gave him a look, a look saying 'your call' and before I knew it there we were. Surrounded by all my friends kissing. We stated off slowly but before we knew it things were getting intense. Very intense. Till Jere cleared his throat.  
'Get a room' Anika and Ellie called in sync, but all I could do was turn bright red, my heart was pounding as I looked up at him, he just smiled and commented,  
'My go then? - Ellie, truth or dare?' and the game continued, except I was too zoned out to pay attention until I saw Conrad and Hudson stand up then leave, walking out onto the beach.

I stood up and started to follow them but it was too dark to see outside. I shouted, 'Conrad!, Hudson!' but heard no reply until..  
'BOO!' They both shouted behind my ear, scaring my senseless for a few seconds.  
When I had recovered I criticised, 'What was that for?' as they both laughed their heads off.  
'Go back inside Iz, we'll talk later' Hudson said  
'Yeah, this is just two people chatting' Conrad added and with that they had ganged up on me. I was powerless, so I trooped inside wondering what on earth they were talking about, till it hit me. Me.

_sorry it's not so good, I did this late at night because I couldn't sleep, review with ideas as I'm getting stuck and whether or not I should carry on, thanks x_


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Conrad's POV**

We walked outside, leaving the group behind. Me and this Hudson guy that Belly apparently wasn't getting with. I didn't know what was going on. If he liked her. If she liked him. I knew about as much as a potato. We went through the formalities first, 'Hi' 'How are you' all of the basics before he turned to me.  
'Do you like her?' he asked cautiously, but bluntly at the same time.  
'Man to man? Yes, of course I do.' I replied slowly, watching his face  
A smile threatened to cross his lips, 'Good man, that's what I wanted to hear' he said smiling.  
'You can't tell her though' his smile vanished  
'Are you going to?' he questioned me  
'In time.. but not yet' I finished, 'it has to be right'  
'Conrad, can I ask you something?'  
'What?' I wasn't making promises to answer anything  
'Don't fuck her about man'. That's when it hit me,  
'Do you like her?' I asked slowly, looking him directly in the eyes  
'No man' he responded, 'I mean she's beautiful and funny and everything but no spark'  
No spark I thought. It reminded me of them that night at the party. 'Forget it Con' I told myself, he's being nice, don't overreact. So I just smiled at him.  
'I have a question now' I said after a minute  
'What man?'  
'Is your hair naturally that blonde or what?' He just smiled at me.  
'Between us, I use lemon juice' He said grinning. I burst out laughing and realised that I liked this guy, he'd make a good addition to the group. We turned back to the house and walked, talking about mundane things and arranging a surf session the following week. For the first time this holiday I felt happy. Like everything was slotting into place.

**Belly's POV**

They came back laughing and smiling. Wow. Three out of the four guys I cared most about were here with me laughing and getting on. It was a shame Steven wasn't here but he had Lacie now. They were happy in New York. Anika had asked if I'd wanted to fly with her and visit them while she saw her parents but I'd said no. Anyway Jere was going now.

They were together at the moment, she was leaning on him and the pair of them were talking to Ellie as the boys came back in. There was a gap beside me and Con sat down filling it as Hud sat across the circle next to Flynn who had returned from his sandwich experience, mostly unharmed. Mostly.

As Hud sat down I shot him a look of eyebrows raised, as if to say 'What was that about?' he merely shrugged and chuckled at me which frustrated me even more. I then turned to Conrad but before I could say anything he mouthed, 'later' at me which shut me up for a while. Conrad then proceeded to ask the group,  
'What game now then?'  
Jere looked up and replied one word, 'Poker' I groaned. I sucked at poker and what made it worse. Jere and Conrad were really good. It used to annoy the hell out of me but whatever, I could do this.  
'Pairs or singles?' Dean asked  
'Shall we let them have a little bit more of a chance?' Jere asked turning to Conrad  
'Hmm I guess' he replied, 'as long as I'm not with Belly.' I hit him. He laughed.  
'Okay' Jere said, 'Anika and I, Dean and Flynn, Ellie and Hudson and Conrad and Belly'  
'Cool' everyone replied in agreement.

'The trick is too bluff your way against the other players' Conrad was telling us. 'For example you always know when Belly has a good hand as her face lights up'  
'It does not!' I retorted  
'Sure it doesn't Iz' Hudson laughed, 'I've watched it happen 3 times in a row.' Hudson was surprisingly good at poker, so was Dean, and obviously Jere and Conrad were which balanced all the teams out. Anika, Flynn and Ellie weren't even watching anymore having left to go outside for a cigarette. They'd asked if I wanted to join but I refused. Susannah had always told me not to smoke. So I never did. I hoped she'd of been proud of that.  
Conrad did smoke however and at one point let me in charge of our team while he went outside quickly. Unsurprisingly I lost pretty bad which didn't lessen the teasing from the group.

When it got too around 3 in the morning Ellie, Flynn, Dean and Hudson left us.  
Us four debated about going to bed but considering it would be light in a matter of hours decided against it. We shoved on Hot Fuzz and laughed at the hilariousness of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. When the movie finished, the sun was just rising and Jere and Conrad decided to go for a surf. They said they'd be back for 10 before changing and heading to the sea. Anika and I changed into bikinis and went down to the pool to watch the sunrise and the boys surf subtly. We must have fallen asleep in the sun chairs because when I opened my eyes it was dusk, a whole day gone. Right before my eyes.

Anika was still sleeping on the lounger so trying not to wake her I stood up and went in search of the boys. They were leaning over the barbeque cooking more burgers when I arrived.  
'Go get Anika' Con called as he saw me walking up. 'Dinner's ready.'  
With that I went to wake Anika and together we walked back up to the boys smelling the delicious burgers, sausages and kebabs. During dinner we laughed, joked and mucked about as the four of us. Nothing was strange or awkward, everything was piecing together for this summer. All I needed to do was talk to Conrad- especially after kissing last night. There were some things that needed to be said. but I was perfectly content to relax and enjoy the summer until then.

A nagging thought played on my mind that Anika would be leaving soon and an imbalance may occur but I shrugged it off. I didn't want this day to have any imperfections.

The next week passed quicker than ever. We partied hard one night at Luke's, one of Jere's old co-workers, but mostly just relaxed together. It was mainly the four of us, playing monopoly, going to the boardwalk, picnicking, the boys teaching Anika and I to surf etc. Hudson joined us one day when we went to a water park and out for a meal and then him, Jere and Conrad went surfing most mornings. They saw him more than I did but I told myself I'd change that when Anika and Jere left and I had more time. Till then I wanted to see them as much as possible. Especially Anika, she would be leaving in three days which seemed like nothing at all. If Jere hadn't been going as well he'd of probably put a downer on her leaving. Luckily that wasn't the case and as they planned for New York, Conrad and I planned for cousins. They were leaving on Monday (today was Thursday) and we'd already planned to go scuba diving on the Thursday next week. I was so excited. I'd never been before. Adding to this Conrad and Hudson had promised me proper surf lessons, something I'd never got the hang of previously but they promised to have me riding like a professional by the end of the week.

Right now the main plan was to host a kickass party for the Anika's leaving. It was meant to be a surprise but I think she'd guessed already. Not that she'd said anything. It was going to be on her second last night here so we could all chill together at the end and it meant we could go even wilder on the party night.

Everyone had a job to do:  
Jeremiah was sorting out food  
Conrad was organising alcohol  
Hudson and Dean were creating a playlist  
Ellie and Flynn were making sure any valuables were safe  
Finally I was in charge of inviting everyone.

The party was going to be Saturday night and today was Thursday. I decided tomorrow I would go round Cousins telling everyone we wanted to arrive so they at least had some notice. A day was enough notice wasn't it? I hoped so.

Friday dawned and everyone had jobs to do. Jere was multitasking, going food shopping and distracting Anika, telling her he wanted an amazing meal to say bye with so we had to have all her favourite foods so therefore she had to go. As soon as they left Ellie and Flynn started moving vases into more secure rooms and out of the kitchen and living room. Conrad was nowhere to be found. I sent him off to find tequila in particular - Anika's favourite. That left Dean and Hudson. They were on the patio working on the music. I walked up to them and said to Dean,  
'Hey can I borrow Hudson for a few hours?'  
'What do you want Iz?' Hudson smiled at me  
'You too help me invite people today' I admitted  
'So you basically want me to do your job for you'  
'Ye.. No!' I exclaimed, 'not at all'  
'Sure I'll come- you don't mind do you Dean?'  
'Nah it's cool, we're pretty much finished anyway' Dean responded  
'Yup, I'll come' Hudson finalised  
'Okay, let's go'

We walked down to his car and as he put the key in the engine he asked 'Where too?'  
'Where the people are' I responded 'the town, then the boardwalk and finally any passers-by on the beach we like the look of' I winked at him  
'Okay your majesty' he responded, 'let's host a mega party'  
I smiled, laughing as I rolled down my window.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Flashback**

'How many people is the maximum I can invite?' I'd called to Conrad last night  
'Belly' Conrad had turned to face me, stopping cutting vegetables, 'there is no maximum'  
'So the whole of Cousins?' I'd grinned at him  
'Pretty much, though maybe not the under 5's and over 80's'  
'Hey! Betty from up the road is always partying and she turned 95 last spring' Jere called walking in.  
'Where's Anika?' Con asked  
'Just coming, so to clarify Belly, as many people as we can fit in this house' Jere finalised  
'Party on' was my final response.

**Present**

We got to town within 5 minutes of driving, parked up and hit the streets. We went to the bakery, pub, cafe, convenience store, restaurant, bar and surf shop to tell people of our plan. Everyone at Cousins liked a rave and usually the place would be scattered with 15-30 year olds. All together, just enjoying summer. In the town we must of invited at least 80 people, mostly our age but we weren't nearly done. I expected we'd hit a minimum 250. And we did.

At the boardwalk we rattled off another 120, there was Jason at the hot-dog stall, Kylie, Britt, Marissa and Violet from the stalls, Danny, Josh and Jamie from the erotic shop(I'd never been in there before today) and then Lola and Sam from the arcade. This was just the start. We'd go round saying, 'hey, party at my beach house tomorrow night, 8ish' and then if they didn't know where it was give them the address. Most said they would come straight away, in fact pretty much everyone did. It was the best thing about Cousins. You didn't need to plan. It sounded cliché but you just went with the flow of things.

After we'd invited the majority of the boardwalk Hud suggested we hit up the country club. They were posh but Jere knew a lot of them from his lifeguarding days and the more the merrier. We headed up there and went up to the reception to ask for a megaphone. They didn't let us have one but that didn't stop us. We asked if they had an intercom for when children got lost and they said they did. Hud quickly asked,  
'Can I see if I can find someone, I've lost my sister.'  
The women on the desk looked disapproving and asked if she could call out a name but Hud replied, 'You won't pronounce it right, its African.'  
'You have an African sister?' Her eyes rolled at us  
'Is that a problem' I replied sweetly  
'Here you go then - be quick' Her voice snapped at us.  
I quickly took the speaker and called 'Everybody! Listen up! Party at Conrad and Jeremiah Fishers beach house tomorrow night at 8. Be there or be square!' And cracking up handed the receptionist back the speaker. Her face was priceless. Very very angry. She started to let out a torrent of words, screaming at us so we ran, ran to the car nearly crying with laughter. Once inside we tried to calm down but her face kept popping up in our heads, the look of shock on her face turning into anger. Hilarious.  
After we had calmed down Hud turned to me, 'That was the funniest thing I have done in a long time'  
'Same!' I responded, 'We make a good team'  
'Yeah we do' was his response, and with that we drove off too our next destination. The beach.

Because we had the beach house we'd always had our own section of the beach that was just for us. I used to like the idea of our own beach but it quickly became annoying because quite a lot of Cousins beach was privately owned and if you wanted to walk across it then you either had to get permission or go up to the road and round, which always sucked. Some people were chill, like Susannah. She'd laminated a piece of A3 card and tied it too our fence saying, 'no need to ask, you can wander through our sand whenever' and would always tell us that yes, seclusion and peace is nice but you can't own the ocean or the sand, it's not physically possible, only emotionally. Like how we felt about Cousins- missing it all year round. No matter what, always waiting for summer.

Anyway, there were some people who like Susannah, you didn't have to ask to walk across 'their beach' they were always fine with it. Actually out of the 6 houses that owned part of the beach, 5 houses were like Susannah. Friendly and easy. However there was the one house that was different. They demanded that you knock on their door to ask and if there was no response then you weren't allowed. Problem was, they never answered the door, meaning you weren't allowed on their stretch of the beach. From the age of 6 - 14 I never once walked across their sand for fear of what would happen. That was till the summer I turned 15. We were all playing truth or dare down the beach and it was Steven's go.  
'Truth or dare' I asked him  
'Dare' he responded casually.  
'I'll take this one' Jere chimed in, 'Steven I dare you too go onto Mr and Mrs Markers (the people who owned the beach we couldn't walk on) land and strip down to your boxers whilst singing I predict a Riot by The Kaiser Chiefs. Stevens face was priceless, but being a good sport he did it. And he did it well and fully, not backing out.

Since then people had stopped really listening to the Markers, surfers in particular would surf on their land and one time a group of friends had had a barbeque. Mrs Markers would call the police but after a while they told her to stop calling- they had bigger situations to deal with and so finally all of Cousins beach was free to walk on. Cousins really owed Steven for that.

That's why as Hudson and I headed down to the beach to invite people for tomorrows party I knew how I was going to phrase this invitation. Make people want to come and manage to re-live the old memories. When we arrived there were around 500 people there and we rode up and down the beach repeating the same message.  
'People of the beach' I'd call through Hudson's sound system, the guy had the newest technology of course, 'I hope you all remember the guy that freed our beach' heads would start to turn, 'that was Steven Conklin, my brother and tomorrow night we will be having a party at the Fishers beach house, 8pm, to celebrate Cousins! So say hell yeah if you'll be there!'  
'Hell yeah' they'd respond and along we'd move. Eventually, after half an hour of beach calling we drove back up to the house satisfied that we'd have enough people turn up, I had just one more person to invite.

'STEVEN' I shouted through the phone 'Get on a plane asap* to come to the amazing pardy* we're throwing tomorrow night'  
'Wait, Iz, what?'  
'Just can you get on a plane today?' I asked  
'For a party?' he asked in disbelief  
'Not just a party Steven, a reunion, bring Lacie, c'mon bro. It's been years. Literally' I coaxed at him  
'Ah what the hell, sure we'll be there' Steven answered. I could tell he was smiling.  
'Don't tell the guys though' I said, 'It's going to be a surprise'  
'Okay Bells, look, I have to go but I'll see you tomorrow'  
'Bye bro, love you'  
'You too' As he hung up I realised how close Steven and I had gotten these past few years. Before we'd fight or ignore each other but nowadays we were really close. I missed seeing him daily but tomorrow was going to be insane. That much I was sure of.

Back at the house it was surprisingly relaxed. Jere and Anika still were not back but Conrad, Ellie, Dean and Flynn were all finished for the day. Ellie, Dean, Flynn and Hudson had to go so they could see some others friends. As they left I told them to invite them to tomorrows party and they said they would. That left Conrad and I.

'Hey' I said, 'how did alcohol shopping go?'  
'Good, I got a lot of stuff' he replied, 'How was invites?'  
'I think we may have 300-500 people turning up' I replied warily  
'Wow! Well we have the house, pool, patio and beach so it should be fine' he sounded pleased.  
'Should be a good night, oh and there's a surprise coming but you'll have to wait' I added  
'What kind of a surprise?' Now Conrad sounded wary.  
'One for you and Jere, it'll be brilliant, I promise' I added. 'Trust me'  
'I do.' All of a sudden the mood changed.  
'About the other night' Conrad started. My heart started pumping but I knew this wasn't right.  
'This isn't right' I told him, 'we have the party tomorrow and after that a whole week of just us. We can figure everything out properly then. Not rushed right now'  
'Sure Bells, just one thing'  
'Wha..' I couldn't finish what I was saying because he kissed me. Kissed me lightly for just three seconds before standing up and saying, 'fancy a swim?'

_*asap = as soon as possible  
*pardy = Made in Chelsea reference. Made in Chelsea is a British reality TV show that is brilliant. Jamie Laing constantly refers to any gatherings events or parties as pardies meaning they are going to be very fun, exciting or a lot of drama or drinking will occur. 'Party with a d' as he says._

_review please:)_


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The beautiful music of Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Nick O'Malley, and Matt Helders filled our beach house. Hudson and Dean had created a brilliant playlist, the music peaking into dance mode at around 10pm, when the majority of our guests had arrived.

We hadn't told Anika anything all day and the look on her face when people started flooding in was priceless. Her, Ellie and I had been on the dance floor as soon as all the hosting had been taken care of. Yet still no sign of Steven. Where was he?

There must of been minimum 200 people in the house with another 200 outside, on the beach, in the pool, roaming. It wasn't a heavy party atmosphere either, people lightly chilling, drinking, dancing and socialising which made the night a lot of fun. It meant we didn't have to worry about anything breaking mainly or any people getting seriously out of hand.

Jere and Anika had decided that for tonight Jere would hang with Con and I'd chill with Anika for the most part, it was going to be the last time I saw her for a while whereas her and Jere had another week together. We were catching up on the beach, lying on one of the many rugs we'd lain down in preparation, people were even dancing in the ocean, there were people absolutely everywhere. We gossiped for hours, talking about Jere, Con, Hudson, Cousins, school, New York etc. I loved talking to Anika, we just flowed in conversation that was actually enjoyable, something that wasn't possible with Taylor.

Just as we were walking back to the house to get drink re-fills and try and find some of the others someone pulled me by the arm. It was getting late, around 1am and I wheeled around in surprise to see my big brother grinning down at me, I meant it when I said down, he must of been 6ft3 at least. Wow.  
'STEVEN' I shouted  
'Hey Iz' Steven laughed at my face of shock while using the name Anika had created. She always took satisfaction in this.  
'You came' I smiled widely, 'C'mon we have to find the guys!'  
'Okay, Okay Iz, hold on. First off there's something I need to tell you' His face went serious for a second, 'You notice that Lucy isn't here..'  
I butted in, 'You're still together right?'  
'Um.. yeah' Steven was being weird, struggling to say something  
'Spit it out Steven' I teased  
'Well, the thing is' Steven paused, 'Lace's pregnant'  
'LACIE'S PREGNANT?'  
'Yeah, what do you think?'  
'You know what bro, are you happy?' I asked  
'Yeah, honestly I am Iz. Really happy'  
'Then how could I not be' I smiled, close to tears. Not tears of sadness though, tears of happiness. 'My brother, a dad' I teased, 'Shit, me an aunt?! Steven I am not old enough to be an aunt! Do I look middle aged?' I asked half excited, half horrified.  
'Well..' Steven replied  
'Shut up' I retorted, 'Where is Lacie then anyway?'  
'She stayed in New York, she's sorting loads of baby things and stuff'  
'Already? Steven, how long has she been pregnant?!'  
'5 months..'  
'You, are the worst big brother ever. Speaking on the phone at least once a week and you tell me 5 months later?' I laughed  
He laughed too before saying, 'C'mon, let's find Jere and Conrad'

'Does Jere know that you two are together by the way?' I asked as we wove our way through people  
'Not exactly' He looked at me sheepishly  
'Oh this will be a fun set of memories then' I said, sarcasm slipping into my voice  
'It'll be fine' He reassured me, I wasn't paying attention though, I'd spotted Jeremiah, Conrad, Hudson and Ellie on the stairs, chatting and joking.  
'Okay, on the count of 3 we run up and say boo' I said, but Steven had gone. Walking towards the boys we'd spent our summers with before grabbing them both and pulling them into a giant bear hug.  
'Steven?!' They cried in unison. Their faces were hilarious so I snapped a picture to blackmail them with later. He sat down with them and they introduced him to Hud and Ellie. I sat at the bottom of the stairs just watching, until after a while, Conrad noticed me, stood up silently walking towards me. He didn't say anything but took my hand, before looking at me for conformation it was okay. As soon as I nodded he led me outside, pulling me through the crowd till we reached the sand. I hadn't realised how late it was and checking my watch told me 3.12am, a lot of people had left by now and minus the odd couple it was just us. Neither of us had said anything but we didn't need to, just staring at the ocean together contently.

After a while I could tell that Con wanted to say or do something. There was something he needed to say but he couldn't phrase it right. It was like he was nervous, with me? That wasn't normal. I opened my mouth to say something when he finally said, 'Don't say anything' and kissed me. Kissed me in a way that was new and exciting. Like Conrad and I were finally together but not only that equal. It was perfect until,  
'What have we here eh?' A snide, harsh, petty voice punched through the air. I pulled my head back to see who it belonged to but I knew already. She'd come back and once again ruined a moment. Taylor. What did surprise me though was seeing the boy hanging off her arm, smiling at her and then turning to grin sinisterly at me. Cam. This night was slowly twisting into a nightmare.

'I-I don't understand?' I questioned, looking first at her but then focussing on him, 'Why are you with her?' By this point Conrad had seen what was happening and had stood up, helping me too my feet. It was us vs. them. Standing glowering at each other.  
'Because Belly' Cam snapped, answering me, 'we like each other'  
'Let me warn you Cam' Con stepped in, 'Taylor's using you to get to Belly and I' he sounded very sincere.  
'Like you know me so well Conrad' Taylor said patronisingly, glaring at me.  
'I don't care if I know you or not Taylor, get the hell off our land now' Conrad raged  
'Fine, come on Cam' Taylor called, 'But this won't be the last we see of you both. I'm warning you.' She departed with a horribly sweet smile, dragging Cam along, acting as smug as possible.

I turned to Conrad, 'You dealt with that relatively well'  
'I'd like to think so' he grinned at me  
'So where were we?' I asked  
'I believe we were kissing?'  
'Hmm, well I'd hate for Taylor to ruin a good scene' I smirked at him  
'Belly, just wait, there's something I need to do before anything happens with us'  
'Wait for what Conrad? I'm not going to wait around like I used to' My mood was changing fast, and not in a good way.  
'Just please, I'm nearly done'  
'Fine' I gave in, 'You have 3 days maximum. If you aren't sorted by then, well then I'm not waiting around anymore'  
'Deal' Was his reply.  
It felt like we'd had a fight almost but I don't know. All I did know was I'd won, made it perfectly clear I wasn't being messed around or played and I knew I'd stick to it. This summer, it was all or nothing.


End file.
